On 12th March, after returning from a holiday, Mark and Jane learned that Joe had died shortly after the incident and spoke to the police about what they had seen. As they had left before Gail had got off the boat, their statements contradicted Gail's, which stated that she was not on the boat.

A few weeks later, the couple were approached by Gail's son David Platt and his friend Graeme Proctor, who had come to the Lake District hoping to persuade the couple to change their statements to the police. Mark felt threatened by David and called the police to report him.